Derek S. Maltz

Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA- Retired), is currently the Executive Director, Government Relations at Pen-Link Ltd.

Derek S. Maltz retired from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) after 28 years of dedicated service and is currently working for Pen-Link Ltd as the Executive Director, Government Relations. Mr. Maltz is also a National Security, Public Safety Executive who appears on national news networks as a subject matter expert.

Mr. Maltz was the Special Agent in Charge of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), Special Operations Division (SOD) for almost 10 years before he left the federal government. Mr. Maltz also previously held the position as the Chief of the New York Drug Enforcement Task Force, which is the oldest and largest drug task force in America.

As the Agent in Charge of SOD, SAC Maltz was instrumental in the growth of SOD from 9 to 30 participating agencies including personnel from the U.K., Canada, Australia and the New York City Police Department (NYPD). Mr. Maltz oversaw the operations of approximately 500 SOD personnel and was responsible for an annual budget of $100 million, while incorporating the DOJ’s priority International Organized Crime and Gang Operational programs into the center. Mr. Maltz played a vital leadership role in developing and implementing DOJ’s and Department of Homeland Security’s nationwide de-confliction program to better synchronize the criminal law enforcement efforts around the world. SOD was responsible for leading the coordination of the high-profile multi-agency efforts that resulted in the capture of Sinaloa Cartel Kingpin El Chapo Guzman. Mr. Maltz was also featured on CBS 60 Minutes, NBC and CNN in response to SOD’s role in the tremendous law enforcement success against the Sinaloa Cartel.

SAC Maltz formally established the Counter Narco-Terrorism Operations Center (CNTOC) in January 2007. Since its establishment, the CNTOC successfully coordinated several significant narco-terrorism operations, including the identification of the Lebanese Canadian Bank as a facilitator involved with an international trade-based money laundering scheme supporting Hezbollah, and a subsequent U.S. Treasury Patriot Act 311 action. This was the first time a 311 action was used in this manner in conjunction with law enforcement on a drug case. This unprecedented event ultimately led to a $150 million seizure as part of the Hezbollah drug and money laundering initiative named Project Cassandra. Mr. Maltz appeared several times on Fox News to discuss this well publicized and impactful enforcement action.

SAC Maltz also enhanced SOD’s Bi-Lateral Global Investigations Unit at SOD from 1-5 highly successful field enforcement groups. These proactive investigative groups demonstrated unparalleled success in targeting and prosecuting some of the highest level criminals in the world, such as the arrest and conviction of notorious arms trafficker Viktor Bout; the arrest and conviction of arms trafficker and terrorist Monzer Al Kassar, alleged mastermind behind the Achille Lauro hijacking; the capture and conviction of Haji Juma Khan, reputedly Afghanistan’s biggest drug kingpin with ties to the Taliban and the leader of one of the largest drug trafficking organizations in the Central Asia Region; the capture and conviction of Afghan heroin kingpin Haji Bagcho; the arrest and conviction of Khan Mohammed on 21 USC 960a charges of narco-terrorism and the arrest and conviction of Global Transnational Criminal Paul Le Roux.

As a result of Mr. Maltz’ leadership, he received the Presidential Rank Award for his accomplishments. Mr. Maltz was also the recipient of numerous other prestigious awards for his accomplishments throughout his law enforcement career and has an extensive law enforcement network around the world. Mr. Maltz has been a spokesperson at Congress and on national media networks on a variety of national security topics. Mr. Maltz was also the lead spokesperson for the DEA for over 10 years on the “going dark” issues relating to advanced communications and encryption and was a member of the DOJ’s Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) briefing team on these complex issues impacting law enforcement and public safety.

SAC Maltz holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Syracuse University, is married, has three children and is part of a family of exceptional public service.